Iran releases U.S. student on bail

Woman, doing research on thesis, still faces charges

TEHRAN — Iranian authorities on Monday released on $200,000 bail a California graduate student who was arrested last month, according to her father.

Esha Momeni, a U.S. and Iranian national who was visiting Iran to research a master's thesis, may not leave the country and must stand before a political tribunal to face charges of "acting against national security" and "propagating against the system," said Reza Momeni, her father.

In a brief telephone interview, Reza Momeni said his 28-year-old daughter had lost about 15 pounds but otherwise appeared to be in good health. He said he had to put up the deed to his family's Tehran apartment as collateral to win his Los Angeles-born daughter's release from prison.

"I hope she will go back to L.A. soon," he said. "But for now, the authorities told us she is forbidden to go out. Tomorrow, we will be in court, and they will tell us what the next step will be."

Esha Momeni moved to Iran with her family at a young age but returned to the United States to study after her divorce in 2005. She traveled to Iran about 10 weeks ago to videotape interviews with women's rights activists as part of her master's project at California State University, Northridge.

She was arrested and locked up in a political ward inside Tehran's Evin Prison on Oct. 15 after what first appeared to be a routine traffic stop. Instead of issuing a ticket, police escorted her to her parents' home, where she was staying, searched the flat and seized her computer before hauling her away.

On Friday, her father was quoted by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying he disapproved of his daughter's activities.